Political Quotes

“I rise today in support of an important piece of legislation that I have introduced that would bring an end to the dangerous existence of sanctuary cities--the Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 included language that specifically prohibits State and local governments from enacting sanctuary policies. Despite this, cities continually violate that provision by having sanctuary policies in place. If these cities and localities want to continue to blatantly disregard Federal law, they should no longer receive certain Federal funds. Now, the sanctuary policies that we are talking about fall into two categories: one, ordinances that bar city employees from asking about a person's immigration status under any circumstances; and two, policies that prevent them from reporting a suspected illegal alien to Federal immigration law enforcement authorities. These sanctuary policies and sanctuary cities that enact them are dangerous and counterproductive to both law enforcement efforts and reducing illegal immigration. We know there are many instances in which an illegal alien is released by local authorities and then commits a very serious crime-- sometimes a murder or a fatal crime. By now we all know of the tragic event that renewed our focus on this issue back in July--the murder of a 32-year-old woman named Kate Steinle in San Francisco.…”